Etsy Seller Interview with Anne of peneloppevintage

How peneloppevintage got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Hello, my name is Anne, and I run the Etsy shop Peneloppe Vintage. I started Peneloppe Vintage in 2017, after having tried to sell vintage houseware on local French second-hand platforms. When I was sourcing plates, glasses, and French vintage decoration, I always kept coming back to clothes and accessories for women. It felt more right for me to source clothes, handbags, and jewelry than common houseware. So I decided to give it a shot, and penelopevintage came to life. I chose Etsy because it was easy to use and allowed me to have worldwide customers. I had a feeling that women from all over the world could be interested in the "vintage chic Parisian" vibe I wanted to create. The items I sell are picked up one by one at local charity shops and garage sales. They mainly come from Normandy, where I live, but every time I travel, I always take the time to source.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

The items I like the most in my shop are the ones from luxury French designer brands. My favorite is Christian Dior because it’s very chic, yet you can wear it every day and it just raises your outfit, like with these flared trousers.

I am also very fond of Cacharel because it’s always effortlessly chic and trendy. And this Moschino leather jacket and the cropped sleeves just give it a vibe I love. But it’s important for me to also source items that are not from famous brands but just have a twist that makes them very special.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

It took me about 2 weeks before I got my first sale. It felt like an eternity! At the beginning, I had about one sale a week, but after a few months, the sales increased until I was up to one or two a day. I think my Instagram page definitely played a role in attracting customers. I show what I just put online and give a glimpse at the backstage and how I run my shop. I get a lot of positive feedback from this method. I also find that putting something online in the shop every day helps me attract customers. One last thing I found helpful, but that took me the most time: giving a "soul" to the shop, a style that the customers recognize. Each item in the shop is unique, of course, but they all work well together and give the shop a unique style when you browse the pages. This also applies to the pictures: my framing is non-conventional, and I used the same method for every item, which gives a feeling of unity.

Managing peneloppevintage

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

I am the only one running the shop. I use the apps, stats, and tools provided by Etsy to run my store; they are not shy on information, and I feel Etsy has it in its heart to help us improve our sales. When an order comes in, I do my best to send it out as soon as possible, which usually takes a day or two. I do the packaging and the shipping labels, drop off the package at the post office, and make sure to send the tracking number to my customer. I am careful with the packaging because I know it is the first thing the customer will see before seeing what she or he ordered. And I always include a thank-you note, asking the customer to leave feedback on my shop, because that’s always helped me improve my selections and functioning.

The future of peneloppevintage 

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

My goal is to keep my shop open with a wider yet more precise selection. After all these years, I finally understand what shoppers are looking for and what I like to sell. My "chic Parisian with a twist" selection has come to life and met its audience. So my challenge is to find new places to source so I can continue to put these items online that are the soul of my shop. I am thinking about hiring someone who can help me so I have more time to source.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

Patience! I found it hard at the beginning to wait for my first sale. You wonder if you made the right choices, the right pictures, the right descriptions, etc. I found it helpful to show my shop to friends to see what they thought about the presentation and the selection of clothes I had. I try to stay open to criticism, even though it’s sometimes hard to hear, because it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you fix them. And I spent a lot of time browsing on Etsy at the beginning to see how the other shops were working, what items they chose to sell, what pictures they were using, what keywords they were using, etc. I think it’s important to stay open-minded and try, every once in a while, to look at your shop with brand new eyes, like you were discovering it for the first time: what do you like? What do you not like? Would you want to come back?